JOSE LUIS CASTILLO, his hair starting to thin but his jaw as strong as ever, sat on the ring apron at the Top Rank gym yesterday fielding questions with a sly smile on his face.

Someone asked him what he thought about last month's tactical, bob-and-weave, punch-and-run fight between Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Oscar De La Hoya.

"Was that a fight?" Castillo said. Not to him, it wasn't. For Castillo, 33, a fight is two men standing in the centre of the ring trading punches until one backs down or is knocked down.

That's the way it was when the great Mexican, a two-time world lightweight champion, fought the late Diego Corrales in 2005 in a battle that has been billed since as the fight of the century.

And that's the way he hopes it's going to be against Ricky Hatton in their light-welterweight showdown at the Thomas and Mack Center tomorrow night. Castillo spoke yesterday in much the same way he fights. He didn't pull any punches. He didn't take any prisoners. He said Hatton was a dirty fighter and he even had a go at Wayne Rooney, who will be carrying Hatton's IBO belt into the ring.

"I can't understand why a Manchester United player like him would walk to the ring with a Manchester City fan," Castillo said. "I know who Rooney is because my sons love him and he's their idol, but once the bell goes, he doesn't matter. Then it is just going to be me, Hatton and the referee."

Castillo knows that Saturday's fight represents his last chance to resurrect his career after twice failing to make the weight for rematches against Corrales and then labouring to a narrow victory over Herman Ngoudjo last January.

Fines and legal fees resulting from his weight problems cost him almost 500,000 dollars (#265,000) and plunged him into debt, which has given him an extra incentive to beat Hatton.

But he knows that it is likely to be a long hard fight and he said he expected Hatton to try and rough him up by any means necessary.

"When I fought Corrales," Castillo said, "you can see where the punches are coming from. You see a lot of technique with him.

"With Hatton you never know. He's very reckless, he throws punches out of everywhere and when he's not punching, he's holding you.

"I don't know whether it's going to be as good a fight as my battle with Corrales.

It depends how Hatton fights me. If he punches three or four times then holds, it's going to be a tougher fight and people aren't going to enjoy that.

But if he comes at me the way he did against Kostya Tszyu in the first few rounds, it's going to be a great fight.

"If you compare Hatton to some other world champions, here in America, they're more technical whereas he tends to throw everything in. He throws elbows to hurt you. There is no rhythm to his attacks. So, yes, I would call him a dirty fighter."

None of Castillo's accusations were made with real rancour. In fact, he also professed great admiration for Hatton's achievements and said he enjoyed his company and admired his attitude.

He said he understood why one of Hatton's nicknames is The Manchester Mexican because he shares many of the attributes of Mexican fighters.

"He can call himself a Mexican because he has a great heart," Castillo said. "He never takes a step backwards and nor do we. He's a great champion.

"When I was in Manchester to do a press conference with him, we went for a couple of beers. In the drinking department, he's a Mexican, too. He'll drink me under the table any day." Hatton would take that victory for granted. But he will not underestimate Castillo in the ring.

Bob Arum, Castillo's promoter, warned the Englishman that Castillo might have one great last performance left in him.

"When a guy is 33," Arum said, "and he is a Mexican, they tend to burn out at an early age because they have been fighting since they were very young. There's a limit to how many punches you can take and Castillo was never a dancer. He was always a fighter. He's possibly on the downside of his career but often with men like him they pull out one last hurrah."

As Castillo and Arum left the gym, they bumped into Roger Mayweather, the uncle and trainer of Floyd Mayweather.

Mayweather retired after he beat De La Hoya but already the race is on to tempt him out of retirement with a big-money clash with the winner of Hatton-Castillo.

"If there's enough money," Roger Mayweather said, "a dead man will climb out of his grave to take it."

It looks, then, as if Mayweather Jnr will be back. But Castillo won't if he loses to Hatton tomorrow night.